The wink of the Mona Lisa

I bought this book when i was in Dubai. It was written by an Arabic writer, Mohammed Al Murr and translated into English by one of his American friends, Jack Briggs. I do not know how accurate the translation was but i thoroughly enjoyed the reading.

It helped me to understand a bit more of the people and their lifestyle in the Gulf countries. it was easy reading since the book is a compilation of short stories.

The story that took on the book title was a funny one. the male character was his brother's wedding, looking bored and disinterested with the activities surrounding him. until he saw a girl across from him who winked at him three times. she was a rather plump lady with small lips and round eyes. nonetheless her winks captivated him and he couldn't forget her. after the wedding, he asked his brother and family on her identify. he found out that she's a relative's daughter. while his family wasn't keen on his intention to propose because she was round and with dark-skin, he was adamant. they got married eventually and had a daughter.

He never asked her about the winks until one day. at first she wasn't sure what he was talking about. then she remembered tat during the wedding when they had first met, her eyes had caught some specks from outside and she was trying hard to get rid of them and since she didn't want to ruin her eye make-up, she blinked ferociously instead. she didn't tell this story to her husband though. she just replied him: "you daredevil, you still remembered."